Prince Oddisa (O.d.d.i-is`a) "who some say came from Kerala"
"has ten forms" : "possessing a gigantic mouth many miles
wide".

"In exorcism there is only one musical instrument – the demon drum
or yak bere, although ankle bells (gejji) and a reed pipe
(vas danda, which has a high pitched whistle) used to call the
demons add much to the sound of a ritual event. The yak bere is
cylindrical in shape and beaten at both ends by the hands (one end is
male the other is female).

II. "DEMON COSMOLOGY"

deity

Anguru Dummala [dummala ‘incense’]

Paliya Tambili [tambili ‘coconut’]

Paliya Kendi Paliya

face

dark blue

green

brown

mane

red

light blue

black

background

yellow

dark blue

green

II.A. "The Main Exorcisms"

#

exorcism

deity which is exorcised

1.

Suniyama

Huniyam Yaka

2.

Sanni [/sanni/ ‘despondency, despair’] Yakuma

Kola Sanniya;

the 18 sanni (disease-daimones)

3.

Mahasona Samayama

Great Cemetery Daimon

4.

Rata Yakuma

Kalu Kumara (‘Black Prince’);

Riddi Bisava;

the 7 "barren queens"

5.

Iramudun Samayama

Riri Yaka

III. "BIRTH STORIES OF THE DEMONS"

"Oddisa is described as being born from a Queen ... who was impregnated,
unbeknownst to her, while she was bathing during her menstrual cycle.
... When Oddisa reaches the age of sixteen he leaves the King’s city,
... pulls every kind of serpent from the anthills that abound and drinks
their venom. ... He rides a white mare, the power of sakti."

"Kola Kumara ... is born in Visalamahanuwara, the city of the Lichchavi’s
... . His mother, Queen Asupala the senior wife of King Sankapala, is
wrongly accused of adultery ... when she announces her pregnancy. Asupala
is executed and a male child falls from her rent womb. {similarly, Khrusaor
was born when his mother Medousa was slain.} ... Sankapala has the child
suckled by seven princesses. However, when he come of age and knowing
of his mother’s cruel death the prince ... leaves the city and wanders
through the forest collecting eighteen poisonous plants. ... The prince
... returning to the city ... slays his father, eating his flesh and drinking
his blood. ... Buddha purifies the city with a torrential rain of flowers."

"Mahasona" (Maha-s`on.a) : "This fierce demon of
the cemeteries is born from the body of one of King Dutugemunu’s ten champions.
... [Another of these 10 champions,] Gothaimbara leapt into the air and
with the small toe of his left foot kicked Jayasena’s head from off his
shoulders. The planetary god Saturn ... tore the head from a bear but
acting a little too hastily puts it on Jayasena’s shoulders, but back
to front. Thereupon Jayasena was ... Mahasona". {a descendant of
Jaya-sena was R.ks.a (BhP 9:22:10-11) ‘bear (ursus, arktos)’}

"Kalu Kumara / Kalu Yaka" : "The Black Prince in a figure
of insatiable lust. (Women afflicted by him are understood to see him
in their dreams.)" myth : "While on a campaign he learns of
a city of women and anxious to satisfy his uncontrollable lust goes to
visit it. The women are so sexually voracious that they literally tear
him limb from limb. {this also happened to Orpheus} He ... takes revenge
on women by ... bringing all kinds of suffering to them during childbirth
... so that children are stillborn."

"Riri is often described as a dwarf, no larger than the little finger,
but who has the power to change he shape into that of an enormous giant.
...

Kuveni ... betrays her people, ... and they exert vengeance upon her
by ripping out her tongue. Riri is born from ... the tongue."

"With the exception of the Iramudun Samayama (which is performed
over ... the midday period ...) all the other tovil are performed
from dusk to dawn ... . ... when the demons are generally the most dangerous
(when the sun is in decline) through to when the sun is again on the ascent
and the demons are weakening."

"Tovil are held at the patient’s house, the appointed day
of the event being dependent on an examination of the patient’s horoscope."

V. "THE IRAMUDUN SAMAYAMA"

"a straw dummy" : "The event involves ... drawing the
illness from the patient into the dummy. The object is to convince Iramudun
Riri that he should remove his gaze from the patient ... . The whole event
is an elaborate trick whereby Iramudun is finally fooled into taking the
straw dummy instead of ... the patient ... . ...

The event of the purale ... involves an exorcist dancer in demonic
guise who is possessed by Riri. ... Hastened by the skillful rhythm of
the demon drum (yak bere) the exorcist-dancer ... ideally finishes
in a trance".

"demons demand blood, a drop is sufficient, obtained from a slight
incision in a cockscomb. A cock ... replaces the patient ..., a two-legged
creature in the image of man."

"The shrill sound of the reed pipe (vas danda) summons the
demon which the smoke from the powdered resin has attracted."

VI. "THE RATA YAKUMA"

"the Dance of Riddi Bisava (the Cloth Queen) and her seven daughters"
: "The Riddi Bisava and the seven princesses or barren queens (described
as Riddi’s seven daughters are the different forms or avatara of
Riddi) are the chief consorts of Kalu Kumara / Kalu Yaka, the Black Prince.
They afflict women ... with what is their own affliction, barrenness and
infertility." myth : "Riddi approached the first Buddha (Dipamkara
Buddha) with a gift of a ‘pure’ white cloth in return for which she wished
to be granted a boon, the capacity to bear a child." "Riddi
then proceeds to grow a cotton plant and weave the cloth which she presents
to Dipamkara."

VII. "THE MAHASONA SAMAYAMA"

"The distinguishing events in this exorcism are the Mangara Pela
Paliya (the procession of god Mangara ...) and the Mahasona Dapavilla
(or Death of Mahasona)." "Mangara is ... the head of the gara
demons who are a class of demons ... usually associated with the goddess
Pattini." "the dolos deviyo (twelve gods), ... to which
Mangara belongs, associated with particular districts and regions".
"The Mangara Pela Paliya ... brings Mahasona and other demonic beasts
such as the wild buffalo under control. Mangara is a domesticator and
tamer of the wild.

The drama of the Mangara Pela Paliya is divided into 12 key events
(each associated with [one of] the twelve gods or dolos deviyo).
...

At the end of the Mangara Pela Paliya, a demonic character, Kalu
Vedi Paliya (the Plack Hunter Apparition) ... stalks the cock, ... and
shoots the exorcist igaha (the arrow of Iswara by which the exorcists
command and control the demons). ... In doing this Kalu Vadi flushes Mahasona
out into the open. ...

The event called Mahasona Dapavilla immediately follows. An exorcist
in the guise of Mahasona ... rushes towards the patient and then patient
and then placing a pot (... from which he was born) on the ground smashes
it with his staff. He ... falls down ‘dead’ ... . He is carried away amidst
mock mourning."

"Mahasona Depavilla : apparition of Mahasona himself in the smoke
from the resin and tochlights. ... It is there, whilst inhaling the smoke
from the resin, that the actor-exorcist enters into a true trance. Mahasona
places a pot ... and shatters it with a staff. At the same moment, he
falls ... as if dead whereupon family and friends carry him away amidst
exaggerated mourning."

VIII. "THE SUNIYAMA"

"to move the victim of sorcery (... who must start the rite by wearing
her head shawl ...) along the line of the snake of sorcery (... the spine
or susumna of the victim) and over seven lotuses, the seven tantric
points of energy ... . ... A cobra design is drawn on the floor of the
verandah ... . The cobra head ends symbolically at the ... sacrum".

IX. "THE SANNI YAKUMA"

"A structure in the shape of a raft on which the foetus of the executed
Queen Asupala was placed is put in the main vidiya and the demon
(in the mask of ... Maru Sanniya) bursts screaming suddenly out of the
raft".

"An egg, considered a live being, is cooked inside a human skull".
{an [infertile] egg is not actually a living being, so it may be a metonymy
for some herb : ‘egg’ is the Septuagint translation for (<iyob
6:6) /h.allamu^t/ (Strong’s 2495), properly ‘purslane’ (as in <arabi^
-- WHB, vol. 4)}

"Pandam Paliya appears wearing a lion-like mask and brandishing
two torches which are alight with resin powder (dummala) which
he shakes before him."

"Salu Paliya, the shawl apparition advances under a voluminous black
wig ... . The specific rhythm of Salu Paliya beaten by the drums is interrupted
by bouts of spasmodic laughter from him."

"Kendi Paliya is an old man who leans on a cane and has difficulty
walking. He farts loudly. whilst stirring a pot which he explains contains
excrement."

"Kalas Paliya, the clay pot apparition : the mask is that of a girl,
she wears a straight skirt ... . ... Kalas Paliya announces that ... she
is the goddess of the earth (Polova Mahi) who went against Maraya ...
in spite of Buddha’s warning."

"Dalumura Paliya, the betel apparition, has an asymmetric face due
to his betel chewing habit."

"Tambili Paliya, the coconut apparition".

"The eight theoretical apparitions "Ata Paliya" will follow
-- ...

inaugurated by Maru Sanniya.

... Bita Sanniya, the timid one with the astonished expression and green
tint to his face ... .

Deva Sanniya ... shows the eighteen sanniya figures in miniature
placed around the top of the mask."

"At a Sanni Yakuma, ... the last mask to appear is that of kola
Sanniya, the chief of the Sanni demons and rocognisable by the raised
cobra on his mask. {cf. Aiguptian ouraios} ... The guards show him a written
contract. Kola Sanniya looks at it, reads it and ... understands its meaning
: he can only descend to earth to cure the sick and to accept offerings,
this is the extent of his powers."